General Atomics + Divergent to Keynote AMUG: When Hypercar Meets Defense Drone

From AMUG to Aerospace

The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference has long been about sharing knowledge across industries. This year's keynote lineup shows exactly that: General Atomics (makers of Predator drones) and Divergent (the hypercar company using 3D printing to build cars) are co-headlining together.

Steve Fournier, Senior Manager of Additive Manufacturing at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Scott Sawyer, Director of Programs at Divergent, will present 'From Hypercars to Defense Drones: How Two Major Industry Innovators Started Their Partnership Journey at AMUG' on March 17th in Reno, Nevada.

The Origin Story

The partnership began following a 2022 AMUG keynote by Divergent founder Kevin Czinger. Fournier told TCT that seeing how Divergent approached structural design 'forced us to reconsider the design aspects' of their aircraft.

'Not all aircraft are designed the same way, but they have commonalities in the way we approach the design,' Fournier explained on the Additive Insight podcast. 'So looking at the way Divergent was approaching their structure forced us to reconsider.'

The key insight? Sometimes you need to look outside your industry's bubble to find breakthrough innovations. As Fournier noted: 'When you live in a bubble of expertise or with additive, you don't realise that not everybody breathes this in and out every day.'

Why This Matters

This partnership represents a fascinating convergence: luxury hypercars using 3D printing for lightweight structures, and defense contractors applying the same principles to military aircraft. Both benefit from:

• Weight reduction — every gram matters in aviation
• Design complexity — topology optimization creates impossible geometries
• Rapid iteration — faster prototyping cycles

The AMUG Conference 2026 runs March 15-19 in Reno, Nevada with nearly 150 presentations, workshops, and the AMUGexpo exhibition.